Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick previews a new way to fly.
"A V-shaped airliner that seats passengers in the wings instead of a central fuselage could make long-distance air travel more sustainable," said Denise Chow at NBC News. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is funding the development of a fuel-efficient airplane that places the passengers, fuel, and cargo into the flying V's arms.
That setup is said to enable it to use 20 percent less fuel than the Airbus A350 while still carrying the same number of passengers. R. John Hansman, a professor of aeronautics at MIT, said that similar proposals had run into problems. But Justus Benad, who came up with the concept as a college student in 2015, said that it will take "people who are passionate about new designs to make an investment and really research more" to find out if it's feasible.
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